Day 46,

it was so cold this morning,

so we let Diana scrap the ice off of Steve's car,

easy does it,

I was too slow to get the camera out, but just disappearing from view a grass car,

we stopped off for breakfast, in the station approach at Kew,

a fry up for Diana and Steve,

a quiche for Kai,

and beef pie for myself,

a quick pose,

from all of us,

and this is where we are going Kew Gardens,

specifically for the orchid exhibit,

no leaves on the tress this time, the last time we were here everything was in flower,

we started off in the shop,

as you might imagine,

with an orchid exhibition in progress there were lots of them for sale,

I thought these were neat,

paper weights with seed heads or flowers inside,

and there was of course chocolate,

as well as plants and other bits and bobs, there was a large book section,

offering titles like Botanicum,

and with the orchid exhibition here books from the home of many orchids, Thailand,

speaking of which here is an orchid that is here for sale,

along with these,

so many to chose from,

another favorite collection of mine, insectivorous plants,

like these Venus fly traps,

they look so cute,

we made our way outside,

where peacocks roamed,

looking splendid,

as they looked for food,

we made our way to the Palm House,

in just a few months these beds will be a riot of colour,

opposite the Palm House,

across the lake one of Kew's museums,

these geese or are they ducks?

took to dry land,

as the seagulls proved the water in the lake had frozen,

Diana strikes the pose,

as Steve and Kai have a seat and a chat waiting for me to catch up,

I am not sure what this plant is,

but it certainly adds a bit of colour to the bed,

I will be there soon,

lots of crocus,

springing up,

not only here but all over the gardens,

and here we are,

the flags say it all,

as do the signs,

as we entered the greenhouse we were greeted by a magnificent chariot,

we made our way inside,

and there hidden from view until you got close,

a temple,

decked with orchids and surrounded by them,

a quick pose,

and then I carried on snapping away,

there were also baskets of orchids hanging from the ceiling,

as well as covering,

every upright piece of the greenhouse,

there were not only orchids here, this Stromanthe sanguinea,

normally grown for it's foliage, was putting on a good show of flowers,

also in abundance bromeliads,

with their strange looking flowers,

looking above, archways,

were also covered with plants,

like these orchids,

you really had to step back to take it all in,

everywhere you looked, there was a new surprise,

like this flower from an air plant,

I made my way to the back of the display,

where I could get a better look at the arches that went over the walkways,

and going upstairs look down on the display,

peering though a couple of fern leaves, a waterfall of orchid blooms,

back downstairs I made my way out,

past the moss chameleon,

going outside there were a few cactus in the entrance hall,

as I passed the headpiece of the chariot,

outside a food stall, if you fancied a taste of home,

and a picture of the King of Thailand.

now that is what you call a Christmas tree,

we made our way over to the Alpine section,

here are so many cute small growing Alpines,

like this one Dionysia curviflora,

another group of flowers that Diana likes,

we popped outside to look at the waterfall,

which was beside the Alpine house,

we kept hearing a strange bird sound, and there it was, a green ring-necked parakeet, 

we next went into the Palm House,

where my camera lens immediately steamed up,

so no pictures for some time, but soon all was well,

I enjoy not only the plants in here,

but also the building itself,

with it's sweeping curves and upright supports,

and here is a visitor I was not expecting in here,

a Robin Red Breast, (Erithacus rubecula),

Steve checking his pictures,

and Diana ready to go,

we made our way outside,

and walked through the rose garden,

and a pose from the girls,

not a cherry blossom, but it looked like one,

and here a few really strange looking tress,

monkey puzzle trees as they are called, (Araucaria araucana),

if you look closely you will see that there are male and female trees,

the male flowers oval-shaped and erect, up to 15cm long; female cones spherical, usually 10–18cm long, the seeds dispersed by jays and squirrels, but surprisingly they are pollinated by the wind,

we arrived at the lake,

where a heron was keeping an eye on things,

we walked past trying not to disturb him,

on the lake,

ducks and swans,

waiting to be feed,

the heron had not made a move yet, no fish to be seen I guess,

I keep saying it, in a few months time, all of this will look so different as the plants and trees get their summer clothes on,

then a favorite of both Steve and myself, bamboo,

this one the Chilean bamboo, (Chusquea culeou), which does well over here as it is frost resistant,

then a real splash of colour, as a male Golden or Chinese Pheasant, (Chrysolophus pictus), looks for food with his two hens,

the colors of this bird,

almost look too unreal to be true,

we had a last look back at the Palm House,

before going into the outdoor sales area,

where these tin plate birds were for sale,

I thought they were quite neat,

being made from scrap tins,

purchases over it was time to go, 

 arriving back we stopped off in Penge to do some shopping, 

 well Steve, Kai and Diana did, 

 I noticed some street art so I wandered off to take some pictures of it, 

 what a neat way to use a gate as your canvas,

 all of this is in just one street in Penge, South East London,

I thought his face particularly striking,

 if you are in the area, 

 and assuming it is still there the street art is in Southey Street just off of Penge high Street, 

 everyone back from shopping so off we went,

 in the evening we were meeting up with some of our friends in the UK at Miso in Beckenham High Street, naturally Steve and Kai were here, 

 and of course Diana, along with Bob's wife Debbie,

 Neil's wife Alison,

 and here they are Neil and Bob, we all had a great time catching up since we all last meet, the evening just flew past, we finally said our farewells, everybody left for their homes, we had a nightcap and we were then off to bed.